updated 02:30 pm EDT, Thu July 1, 2010

EU could make mobile app operability mandatory

EU commissioner Neelie Kroes in an interview has warned that the iPhone and other phones may be pushed open by new European interoperability rules. Citing Apple as an example, she observed that the App Store and other closed platforms were examples of customer lock-in for proprietary technology. Kroes stopped short of proposing exact measures in a EurActiv talk but made clear Apple wouldn't be immune to an overall push for interoperability by the European Commission, whose Digital Agenda could make licensing and publishing formats a legal requirement.

"We need to make sure that significant market players cannot just choose to deny interoperability with their product," she said. "This is particularly important in cases where standards don't exist... This is not just about Microsoft or any big company like Apple, IBM or Intel. The main challenge is that consumers need choice when it comes to software or hardware products."

What the EU could do to Apple could vary but may have an example in the motivations behind $1.4 billion fine against Microsoft. The software developer was accused by the Commission of both refusing to give out code necessary for apps to support the same features as Windows or else discouraging it by demanding a premium royalty for the option. Apple largely provides access to the same programming interfaces as it uses for iOS devices, but it may have to make it easier for developers to write apps without using Xcode or requiring that all apps must be approved by Apple.

In the US, Apple is already believed to be under FTC investigation for banning third-party development suites. Adobe and others have complained that the iOS SDK rules make it artificially difficult to develop for platforms like Android at the same time, forcing companies to spend extra for multi-platform work and often leading many to write only for iOS hardware.

s**** the EU

s**** all globalization. This is what happens when you have a massively powerful political or judicial force. Imagine what it will be like when the globalist's plans are complete and we have a one world court, one world bank, one world government etc. It's why we're seeing a resurgence in "10th Amendment" / "State's Rights" here in the US. Small local government is the answer, not world government.

It's not about consumers!

The EU has lost the lead in mobile handset technology as indicated by the ongoing failure of Ericsson and Nokia. Now, they're just out to s**** Apple and Google to take the pressure off Nokia and Ericsson long enough for their subsidies and regulations to kick in and provide EU manufacturers a monopoly.

right...

It's because it's a large group. If it were up to the countries themselves, they'd be all "Do what you want, Apple!".

And I didn't realize the 10th amendment disappeared in the US. Seem to recall many using it as reasons not to follow various federal laws. Then again, they have no problem accepting federal monies for all sorts of pork projects in their states, and have no problem asking the feds for help when disaster strikes. It's just the other times when they say "Oh, keep the federal government out of our lives!"

As an EU citizen

I want an investigation launched into who is paying this woman off. Why did they do nothing when MSFT had their playsforsure platform that only worked on windows before the iPod launched? The Ipod ecosystem works on OS X and windows but neither the old playsforsure or Zune work on anything other than windows officially.

All of the music is sold in standard AAC format which is playable by iPods, Zune and any other player that wants to implement the openly licensable AAC format.

This woman is being paid by MSFT to launch these "investigations". Follow the money.

To anti-govt. retards ...

I don't know yet the specifics of this ruling or its future, but this isn't about big government vs. small government. This is about regulating a "public" resource. Phone companies use a public resource - radio frequencies - and they must abide by laws like anyone else. The 10th amendment does not give a state the right to bandwidth or radio frequencies ... that is a federal role anymore than the 10th amendment gives states the right to make up their own immigration laws.

This commissioner may very well be off base or may be being paid off by Nokia, however federal or EU governments DO have the legal right AND the moral authority to at least look into the fairness corporate policies or possible corrupt relationships when public resources are being used.

Again, she might be too far into the weeds and I don't see a problem so far with what I know about Apple's walled garden, but don't stupidly quote the 10th Amendment until you understand what it means!

Have you noticed how well the EU is doing now?

All these countries under one banner and a third of them have seriously major debt problems.

Seriouslly, does anyone care whether Opera runs as a Browser? Apple's Safari is good, has small share, but the EU will freak out eventually and try to whip it in line too. I may not be crazy about MS anything, but they got the shaft on these EU pronouncements. All this is going to do is cause the cost of everything to rise while the Chinese crawl in under the radar.

It's funny, but after WWII was over, they went crazy. The Brits are in the EU but still use pounds sterling. Germany is constantly being asked to dole out money to the idiots who made bad decisions. Norway is debt free and has more money than Croesus. Finland is sucking rocks with the Nokia stuff. It's no wonder things are a mess over there (and in OUR gulf).. these commissioners are people who have never held real jobs or run real businesses... their "work" is to placate those who can't compete because they don't have something very outstanding. It's sickening.

Europe can

FTEU

she said. "The main challenge is that consumers need choice when it comes to software or hardware products."

What f.choice do U mean btch... consumers always had a choice... if every stupid, useless and lazy fckrs
like Mr.Soft or Nokia just copy the iOS ... what fcking choice would consumer have ???
This lobbying is not going to prevent U from dying, Nokia !!! ...put U'r f.EUROS in research...DUDES

Busybody Bureaucrats

Auto-unlocking iPhones

Apple is setting itself up for these lawsuits and for losing them because it really is behaving badly. When an iPhone's 2-year contract is up, all legal/ethical rationale for continuing to lock it to one provider ceases. Apple should be automatically unlocking all such phones. It doesn't because it really is playing 'customer lock-in.' You don't have to agree with the EU bureaucracy's regulatory obsessions to agree that it is on to something here.

Re: As an EU citizen

I want an investigation launched into who is paying this woman off. Why did they do nothing when MSFT had their playsforsure platform that only worked on windows before the iPod launched? The Ipod ecosystem works on OS X and windows but neither the old playsforsure or Zune work on anything other than windows officially.

And the also haven't done anything against Apple for their lock-in on videos and music, considering that Apple's lock-in is worse. You're looking at things at a computer level (like who cares about that), but at the device level, you are locked in to using Apple devices to continue to watch or listen to your iTMS protected content. At least with Playsforsure, you had your choice of hardware (any PC builder you wanted) and devices (many MP3 players supported it).

All of the music is sold in standard AAC format which is playable by iPods, Zune and any other player that wants to implement the openly licensable AAC format.

All the music is NOW sold in standard AAC format. All music bought up through a year or two ago is all still fully DRM'd and restricted to just your Apple devices. And video content is still DRM'd.

This woman is being paid by MSFT to launch these "investigations". Follow the money.

Oh yes, it's the ol' "Someone is looking into Apple. It must be an MS plot!" conspiracy. Someone needs to adjust their foil hat.

idiots

Oh, and if you bothered to read the article, what they're talking about is data lock-in, not program lock-in. They want to make sure you aren't stuck using a blackberry for the rest of your life because you can't get your data off the servers otherwise.

Oh, and it is, at most, a suggestion for investigation. The way you people make it sound, Apple's on the verge of being castrated.

@aristoteles... thanks

for saving my time on this one... dude !!!

"Speaking of idiots.
Can you get your contacts off your iPhone? Yes, they sync to your Mobileme account in the cloud. Can you get your notes off your iPhone? Yes they sync to the Mobileme cloud that you can access with a browser.Can you use Google Calendar and Google Contacts and Gmail instead of Mobileme? Yes.
Compared to a lot of other phones eco-systems, the iPhone is actually more open and the data is more portable. "

WTF do U mean btch???

consumers always had a choice... if every stupid, useless and lazy fckrs
like Mr.Soft or Nokia just copy the iOS ... what fcking choice would consumers have ???
This lobbying is not going to prevent U from dying, Nokia !!! ...
put U'r f.EUROS in research...DUDES